The Convict Lover


Merilyn Simonds - 1996
    In 1987, writer Merilyn Simonds found a cache of letters, albums, clippings and other memorabilia in the attic of her Kingston, Ontario, home, the bits and pieces of an unknown woman's life. Among the overflowing boxes and stuffed sugar sacks was a tin box that held one complete, brief collection of letters from the months immediately after the First World War in 1919, a one-way correspondence written in pencil on flimsy paper, undated and without postmarks. From this careless jumble of pages, remarkable individuals and events emerged: a convict, a penitentiary, a village girl, a life in small town Canada at the end of the Great War. Merilyn Simonds was drawn irresistibly to the lives of Joe "Daddy Long Legs," a thief and con artist incarcerated inside the stone fortress that was the country's most notorious prison, and of Phyllis Halliday, a seventeen-year-old schoolgirl whose family home bordered the prison quarry and who fell under the spell of a man she could never meet or touch, except through their clandestine correspondence. Around them swirled a cast of equally compelling characters, chief among them William St. Pierre Hughes, superintendent of the nations' prisons, whose fate, like those of Joe and Phyllis, was bound to the conspiracies and intrigues inside Kingston Penitentiary. All three are caught in prisons of their own devising; only one truly escapes. In the year after its publication, families of all the major characters in the book contacted author Merilyn Sinonds to share their stories and find out more about these little known relations. As a result, she learned that Joseph Cleroux had been part of the Cleroux gang that burgled Ottawa Valley businesses in the first decades of the 1900s. The story of Josie Cleroux's early years and what is now known about where he ended up is told in the epilogue of the paperback edition of "The Convict Lover" "From the Hardcover edition."

The Hour: A Cocktail Manifesto


Bernard DeVoto - 1948
    The Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning author turns his shrewd wit on the spirits and attitudes that cause his stomach to turn and his eyes to roll — warning: this book is not for rum drinkers. DeVoto instructs his readers on how to drink like gentlemen and sheds new light on the simple joys of the cocktail hour. Daniel Handler's introduction to this reprint of the 1950s classic provides a humorous framework for the modern reader.

Murder on the Inside: The True Story of the Deadly Riot at Kingston Penitentiary


Catherine Fogarty - 2021
    For four intense days, the prisoners held the guards hostage while their leaders negotiated with a citizens' committee of journalists and lawyers, drawing attention to the dehumanizing realities of their incarceration, including overcrowding, harsh punishment and extreme isolation. But when another group of convicts turned their pent-up rage towards some of the weakest prisoners, tensions inside the old stone walls erupted, with tragic consequences. As heavily armed soldiers prepared to regain control of the prison through a full military assault, the inmates were finally forced to surrender.Murder on the Inside tells the harrowing story of a prison in crisis against the backdrop of a pivotal moment in the history of human rights. Occurring just months before the uprising at Attica Prison, the Kingston riot has remained largely undocumented, and few have known the details--yet the tense drama chronicled here is more relevant today than ever. A gripping account of the standoff and the efforts for justice and reform it inspired, Murder on the Inside is essential reading for our times.Includes 24 pages of photographs.

Book of Mercy


Leonard Cohen - 1984
    Now beautifully repackaged, the poems in Book of Mercy brim with praise, despair, anger, doubt and trust. Speaking from the heart of the modern world, yet in tones that resonate with an older devotional tradition, these verses give voice to our deepest, most powerful intuitions.

Red, White, and Drunk All Over: A Wine-Soaked Journey from Grape to Glass


Natalie MacLean - 2006
    She visits the labyrinthine cellars of Champagne to examine the myths and the mystique of luxury bubbly and the grandes dames who made it the drink of celebration the world over. She pulls on sturdy boots to help with the harvest at the vineyards of iconoclastic Californian winemaker Randall Grahm and goes undercover as sommelier for a night in a five-star restaurant with a wine list the thickness of a phone book. She looks at the influence of powerful critics, notably Robert Parker and Jancis Robinson, invites readers into her dining room for an informal wine tasting, and compares collecting notes at a bacchanalian dinner with novelist Jay McInerney.As funny and engaging as she is knowledgeable, Natalie has an unconventional wit, curiosity, and obsession with all things related to wine that make for a tour both amusing and informative, from grape to bottle to glass.

Inside Passage: Living with Killer Whales, Bald Eagles, and Kwakiutl Indians


Michael Modzelewski - 1991
    He found it on Blackfish Sound ("Blackfish" is the Kwakiutl Indian word for the killer whale) in the Inside Passage, the rugged coastline between Seattle and Alaska. Leaving his home in Aspen, which had become a false Shangri-La for him, Modzelewski settled on a desolate island in the Inside Passage, a place which "after seducing you with beauty would shake you with fear. An unpredictable place that kept you always prepared, honed to the keen edge of life." Here he lived alone for months on end. Inside Passage describes his experiences in this unspoiled setting, where the sky is his ceiling, mountains are his walls, and physical challenges test him down to the marrow. He also forms unusual friendships with passing yachters, salmon fishermen, Kwakiutl Indians, loners, and the owner of the house he is staying at, Will Malloff, a man of oversized personality -- a healer, builder, woodsman, and thinker. Modzelewski writes with a love for nature and gentle humor about his interactions with the native animals (eagles, whales, wolves), local animals (cats, dogs, "tame" wild boars), and other settlers. Inside Passage is the powerful story of one man learning the ways of self-reliance in a soul-filled search through the northern wilderness.

Do Not Go Gentle: My Search for Miracles in a Cynical Time


Ann Hood - 2000
    Nonetheless, she traveled from Rhode Island to El Santuario de Chimayo in New Mexico to bring home a miracle for her dying father. Ultimately, Ann Hood discovered the courage to accept what had come her way, and an appreciation for the faith in miracles. Do Not Go Gentle is a profound journey into the nature of miracles, and one woman's revelatory reflection upon her spiritual heritage.

Life After God


Douglas Coupland - 1994
    This collection of stories cuts through the hype of modern living, travelling inward to the elusive terrain of dreams and nightmares.

Do It Now: Overcoming Procrastination


Fuschia Sirois - 2021
    While many people attribute procrastination to laziness or a lack of drive, our real motivations to push back and delay important activities and decisions are more complicated than personal weakness. The truth is that humans are well-adapted for basic survival, but they are not so great at managing the stresses and expectations of modern life without a little help.If our own minds so often work against us, how can we get things done without the stress and last-minute panic so common in our hectic 21st-century lives? You’ll learn how in Do It Now: Overcoming Procrastination, taught by Fuschia Sirois, PhD. In 10 lectures, Dr. Sirois will help you better understand the way your mind works and how to overcome the bad habits that are holding you back. Using the latest scientific research on procrastination, Dr. Sirois will give you the insight and guidance you need to set and meet goals, manage your time better, design an environment that will help you succeed, and much more.Best of all, Dr. Sirois makes it clear that procrastination is a natural impulse for most people - sometimes, it can even be beneficial. She encourages you not only to work toward better time management but also to get rid of the burden of guilt and internal pressure that so often accompanies this very common behavior. While the tendency to delay the things we need to do is a deep-rooted habit, you will be able to apply and re-apply the strategies and tools you will acquire in this course for the rest of your life.

Liquid Intelligence: The Art and Science of the Perfect Cocktail


Dave Arnold - 2014
    There, Arnold and his collaborators investigate temperature, carbonation, sugar concentration, and acidity in search of ways to enhance classic cocktails and invent new ones that revolutionize your expectations about what a drink can look and taste like.Years of rigorous experimentation and study—botched attempts and inspired solutions—have yielded the recipes and techniques found in these pages. Featuring more than 120 recipes and nearly 450 color photographs, Liquid Intelligence begins with the simple—how ice forms and how to make crystal-clear cubes in your own freezer—and then progresses into advanced techniques like clarifying cloudy lime juice with enzymes, nitro-muddling fresh basil to prevent browning, and infusing vodka with coffee, orange, or peppercorns.Practical tips for preparing drinks by the pitcher, making homemade sodas, and building a specialized bar in your own home are exactly what drink enthusiasts need to know. For devotees seeking the cutting edge, chapters on liquid nitrogen, chitosan/gellan washing, and the applications of a centrifuge expand the boundaries of traditional cocktail craft.Arnold’s book is the beginning of a new method of making drinks, a problem-solving approach grounded in attentive observation and creative techniques. Readers will learn how to extract the sweet flavor of peppers without the spice, why bottling certain drinks beforehand beats shaking them at the bar, and why quinine powder and succinic acid lead to the perfect gin and tonic.Liquid Intelligence is about satisfying your curiosity and refining your technique, from red-hot pokers to the elegance of an old-fashioned. Whether you’re in search of astounding drinks or a one-of-a-kind journey into the next generation of cocktail making, Liquid Intelligence is the ultimate standard—one that no bartender or drink enthusiast should be without.

Mikkeller's Book of Beer


Mikkel Borg Bjergsø - 2014
    These range from good beginner's beers such as pale ale and brown ale to more advanced ales such as barley wine, smoked stout and Belgian wild ale, so there is something here for both the novice and the experienced home brewer.  Learn too about Mikkeller's evolution from experimental hobby brewer to trailblazing international microbrewery; the history of beer; the beer revolution of the 1990s, beer and food, and the most important beer types, from pale lagers through highly-hopped IPAs to dark stouts and strong quadruples.

Hard Times in Paradise


David Colfax - 1992
    An account of one family's life in a redwood forest describes how the Colfax's lived without electricity, running water, or a phone, and how they educated their sons, three of whom were accepted to Harvard on full scholarships.

The Price Of Freedom (A Story Of Courage And Faith, In The Face Of Danger.)


Simon Ivascu - 2009
    

One Hundred Great Essays (Penguin Academics Series)


Robert DiYanni - 2001
    The anthology combines classic essays of great instructional value together with the most frequently anthologized essays of recent note by today's most highly regarded writers. The selections exhibit a broad range of diversity in subject matter and authorship. All essays have been selected for their utility as both models for writing and for their usefulness as springboards for independent writing. An introductory section informs readers about the qualities of the essay form and offers instruction on how to read essays critically and use the writing process to develop their own essays. For those interested in learning about reading, writing and critical thinking by studying examples of great writing.

Indian Ernie: Perspectives on Policing and Leadership


Ernie Louttit - 2013
    Indian Ernie, as he came to be known on the streets, here details an era of challenge, prejudice, and also tremendous change in urban policing. Drawing from his childhood, army career, and service as a veteran patrol officer, Louttit shares stories of criminals and victims, the night shift, avoiding politics, but most of all, the realities of the marginalized and disenfranchised.Louttit spent his entire career (including as a Sergeant) patrolling the streets of Saskatoon's west side, an area until recently beset by poverty, and terrible social conditions. Here, he struggled to bring justice to communities where the lines between criminal and victim often blurred. Though Louttit's story is characterized by conflict, danger, and violence, he argues that empathy and love for the community you serve are the greatest tools in any officer's hands, especially when policing society's less fortunate.While his story is based on his experiences in Saskatoon, it is equally applicable to the challenges faced in any community where marginalized people live. It is an exciting, passionate, easy to read, and highly accessible story aimed at a broad audience.